the rhythm of a poem beats faster: a solstice-eve gathering in celebration of community

Join us on Saturday, June 20 as we prepare to meet the longest day of the year with a chorus of poetry. We'll congregate in the breathtaking sanctuary of St. Ann's as 60 poets remind us of the ability of language to transcend, resist, and most importantly, connect. 

Performances will feature fellows, award winners, readers, teachers, students, community members and more from the Brooklyn Poets community. All funds raised will support our programs and operations including our community space at 144 Montague, free community groups, fellowships, sliding scale registrations & more. 

Featured readers include: Aishvarya Arora, Andres Cordoba, Annie Finch, Anthony Thomas Lombardi, Brad Walrond, C. (Constantine Jones), Chanice Hughes-Greenberg, Chiara Di Lello, Cynthia J. Roman Cabrera, D.S. Waldman, Dante Clark, Emily Blair, Gbenga Adesina, Gray Davidson Carroll, Insiya Taj, Jay Deshpande, Jesi V. “Rocki” Taylor, Jess Jardine-Lynch, Jim Stewart, Joanna Solfrian, K. Iver, Kayla Schwab, Kenny Bradley, Kevin Carson, Kyle Liang, Lara Atallah, Latif Askia Ba, Linda Harris Dolan, Lisa Hiton, Malvika Jolly, Maria Rubio, Megan Fernandes, Megan Pinto, Miller Oberman, Noah Arhm Choi, Omotara James, Patrycja Humienik, R.A. Villanueva, Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, Rosebud Ben-Oni, s.e. zelalem, Sam Cha, Shara Hardeson, Stella Lee, Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman, Tara Skurtu, Tina Chang, Vanessa Jimenez Gabb, Wo Chan, Zora Satchell and more.

Our full lineup with reading times will be announced in early June.

Event Schedule

12:15pm: Doors open
1-5pm: Afternoon readings
5-6pm: Intermission/Break
6-8:30pm: Evening readings

Note that by attending this event, you agree to abide by our policies below. All in-person attendees for events are currently required to wear masks (regardless of vaccination status) except readers at a safe distance on stage. We will have masks available. Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss from our programs any participant found to be in violation of these policies. Thank you for respecting our community.

Our Policies: Community Agreements, Mask Policy, and Accessibility

Community Agreements

At Brooklyn Poets, we are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive, welcoming and nurturing environment, which allows for mental, emotional and physical well-being, free from intentional harm. We value personal accountability, responsibility and respect for those participating.

We understand that each of us will misstep because we are continuously learning, and we lead with the assumption that others are doing the best they can with the knowledge and experiences they have. We also believe that each of us, individually and collectively, has a responsibility to acknowledge and address behaviors that harm others. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment or harm based on factors of identity. If harm occurs, we will intervene using a harm-reductionist, transformative justice framework.

To ensure that we are creating and maintaining a space that aligns with our values, we ask that all participants, staff, faculty, board members, collaborators and community members challenge themselves to meet the following principles:

Center community
Show up with an active commitment to move outside of the systems and norms that perpetuate harm, particularly the intersecting systems of oppression and marginalization that cause the most harm to the most vulnerable amongst us. Challenge yourself to listen without defensiveness when others in the community tell you that your actions have caused harm. Create space for learning and repair while giving yourself compassion when your impact does not align with your intent.

Engage with intention
You’ve chosen to be here for a reason, so while you’re here: Listen fully when others are speaking. Speak authentically. Be aware of the space you take up and ensure you’re creating space for others. Make the most of what we can offer each other.

Embrace uncertainty and (principled) discomfort
Remain open to new ideas, methods or approaches, even if they don’t align with your expectations or preferences. Recognize that the work needed to move through tensions, disagreements, complexities and harms in ways that honor a shared commitment to growth often require us to spend time feeling uncertain and uncomfortable.

Respect, affirm and uplift one another
Respect others' perspectives and identities shared with you—including race, cultural background, gender expression and pronouns, sexual orientation, religion, class identity and ability. Don’t make assumptions about anyone’s identity, background or experiences.

Respect your own well-being
Prioritize your own physical, mental and emotional well-being—stretch, eat, drink water, go off camera, take a breath, use the restroom or step outside when needed. Reach out to your instructor, classmates or Brooklyn Poets staff when you need help or support in doing so. If you need accommodations to help you do so, reach out to bkp@brooklynpoets.org.

These principles reflect our collective commitment to creating an environment that acknowledges, supports and values all community members. Individual workshops and other spaces may create additional agreements for collective engagement. If you have an experience to share or a need for mediation, please email feedback@brooklynpoets.org, which will send your message to everyone noted below and is the fastest path to reach us. If you’re more comfortable contacting someone individually, or your experience relates to one of the individuals listed, you can contact anyone listed individually and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Executive Director r. kay: renee@brooklynpoets.org
Board President Eugenia Leigh: eugenia.leigh@gmail.com
Board Vice-President Miller Oberman: miller.oberman@gmail.com

Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss anyone from our programs (without refund) for actions deemed detrimental to staff, faculty, and/or other participants. This includes but is not limited to making unwanted sexual comments and/or advancements; using misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, and/or racially insensitive language; and aggressive or belligerent behavior.

These community agreements are heavily indebted to our own Transformative Justice work with Community Jewelbox and the following organizations we looked to for inspiration in terms of structure: Cave Canem & Tin House.

Mask Policy

All event attendees are required to wear masks due to the current prevalence of cases of COVID and other respiratory illnesses in NYC. Masks will be available at the door.

While your personal risk tolerance may vary, the unmitigated spread of COVID and other respiratory illnesses disproportionately affects the most vulnerable in our community—including those who are immunocompromised or don’t have the privilege of paid sick days to heal and recover. We hope you’ll join us in taking the actions we can to make our space welcoming to all and to keep each other safe. Please stay home if you are experiencing symptoms, have a positive COVID test or someone close to you has recently tested positive.

We strongly encourage daytime visitors and workshop attendees to wear masks. Workshop instructors may choose to enforce a more stringent policy at their own discretion. Additionally, workshop participants may be required to wear masks as an accessibility accommodation for other participants.

While we do our best, Brooklyn Poets cannot guarantee zero risk. A risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in all public settings. By entering the building, students, teachers and other attendees accept the risk of exposure and knowingly waive and release Brooklyn Poets from any liability related to COVID-19.